ANA All Nippon Airways

Flight 950 from MNL-NRT. Delayed 2 hours. Not one apology heard from any crew member or customer service. Service was so so. Nothing spectacular. older style 767. Audio Visual didn't work and when I told a crew member she said she would look into it. Never came back. Pretty bad service especially when other airlines are priced cheaper.

Recently flew NRT-DEL-NRT-SEA on ANA. Overall impression was superb - probably the best airline experience in 20 years of travel. Crew were spotlessly dressed and smiled through the whole flight. Food well presented though a heavy Japanese influence as expected. Seats were lie-flat and not full recline due to removal of 787 from service (which they profusely apologized for). Only negative was 3 hour delay from NRT-SEA due to bad weather but made up one hour in the air. It was like night and day as compared to UA experience from SEA-NRT which was abysmal at best. Would not hesitate to use again.

Route FRA-HND and NRT-FRA. Because of the grounding of the Dreamliner the flight to HND was in a 777-200 with domestic seats. This was a little bit hard. The Entertainment and the meals were absolutely great. Very friendly crew. The trip to FRA was 777-300ER this was the best Economy experience I've taken.

HND-CTS-HND nice to still be able to fly domestic 747s in Japan (JAL have grounded their fleet). Outbound was operated by "Picachu Dreaming" the all-yellow jumbo with Pokemon characters painted along the side with the eponymous Picachu on the tail. Interior also had Pokemon detail (eg headrests curtains). Very charming. Service was a hot green tea. Aircraft mostly empty. Crew profusely apologetic about substituting the promised 787 with the jumbo but I don't see why it made a difference. Return to the capital on another 747 in the evening was equally nice had a seat in Economy upstairs. Flight attendant asked me what I was doing in Sapporo when I said it was to do with aviation and that I chose Nippon as I love the jumbo she went away and came back with a postcard of a 747 and on the back had written thank you for flying with us today signed by half a dozen crew with a Hello Kitty sticker attached! She also gave me a small bag of Nippon sweets and pens. Landed smoothly on time back at Haneda and parked next to Picachu Dreaming at the end of a great day.

Haneda to LAX on 777-200 in economy class. These seats were the most uncomfortable I have even had the displeasure to be in. They are very narrow seats and the leg room was tight. If you are 5'2" and weigh 100 lbs. I guess they would be ok. It was not possible to recline the seat very much because the bottom of the back part of the seat cut into your back it was miserable. The seat cushion was shallow and gave very little support to your bottom. The food started off with a sandwich which seemed about the same you would receive from a vending machine. The meal service two hours from landing in LAX was mediocre at best. I will never fly ANA. My comparison is seven other airlines I have used over the years trans-pacific. ANA is the worst for comfort and food.

LAX-NRT 777-300ER. FA's stop to pick up every little thing dropped and do everything to keep aircraft spotless. Service was always with a smile. This is my new preferred airline of choice. NRT-BKK 767-300 same excellent service but aircraft was worn and seats seemed to be closer together. Based on service of FA I won't hesitate to choose ANA in the future.

San Francisco to Tokyo in economy class. This was the first time my wife and I have flown an international flight with ANA. From the moment we checked in everyone was extremely polite professional and even smiled. A smile goes a long way. The aircraft was clean and had the hard shell seats that slide forward instead of reclining. This took some getting used to but I managed since I didn't have anything under the seat in front of me. I don't think large people will like this style of seat. The benefit is not having the seat in front of you recline into your lap. The seat backs were higher and the top pf the seat did not taper to a head rest. The top of the seat back was the same width as the rest of the seat back. This allowed for a much larger video screen. I usually need to wear my reading glasses to watch movies but not this time! They also had room to put the remote next to the screen. Nobody hitting the seat back behind me like those touch screens and no remote in the arm rest taking up space. I also liked the foot rest. It gave me another option when adjusting to get comfortable. The differences with this aircraft did not stop there. The lavatory had automatic faucets. No need to push down and hope the water would last long enough to wash your hands. There was a beverage holder on the back of the tray table so you didn't need to pull down the tray table for only a drink. Then when you did pull down the tray table for your food there was another beverage holder in the seat back so you had more room on your tray. The main dinner course was excellent. By far the best airline food my wife and I have had in economy. Then another cart came by with miso soup. As if that wasn't enough an FA came by with Haggendaz ice cream for dessert. Throughout the flight beverage carts were making their rounds offering the soft drinks juices wine and beer. FAs walking around offering three different types of hot tea and another one offering coffee. We were rarely interrupted with those annoying long announcements in English and Japanese throughout the flight. When the seatbelt light came on no announcement. Instead FAs walked the aisles to ensure everyone was wearing their seatbelt. When dinner was served FAs carried a menu to show you what was being offered. All of the small details made a huge difference from our experiences with United and Delta. This flight was part of a trip which included flights with United. Too bad ANA cannot offer US domestic flights. United could learn a lot from ANA.

Hiroshima-Narita-Frankfurt-Amsterdam-Munich-Narita-Haneda-Hiroshima. For the first leg of this trip the plane was operated by IBEX and arrived on schedule. I have bad knees so I need assistance. It was offered each time. Plane to Frankfurt was a 777-300 and the flight attendant greeted me by my seat number: 24C. Service was excellent and the AVOD superb. Food was reasonable. For the changeover I had a courier who took me straight through passport control to the gate. Without this assistance I would not have made the connection. Flight to Amsterdam operated by Lufthansa and the difference was rather obvious. Nevertheless food and drink were served on the 50-minute flight. On the return trip the Lufthansa flight to Munich took off late and I was concerned about the connection. I was taken to the ANA plane by car and made the connection without difficulty. Departure delayed 2 hours however while the plane was de-iced and it was here that the superb ANA service was slightly lacking: given relatively little information. After takeoff the flight was good but again I was not told about the arrangements for assistance at Narita. 777-300 arrived well behind schedule and I missed the connection to Hiroshima. I was given a bus ticket to Haneda hotel accommodation next to Terminal 2 and had been booked on the first flight to Hiroshima the following day. I upgraded my ticket to Prestige Class on the 767 and had a pleasant Japanese breakfast. All in all the level of service was very good and I would recommend ANA as my preferred airline.

Tokyo to Frankfurt changed ticket from Lufthansa and tried ANA. Excellent seats with nice flat sleeping bed surface with nice cover and pillow. Food was really good tasty hot and nice choice of wines. The flight attendant service was the best I have experienced - much better than Lufthansa and also better than Thai Airways and Cathay Pacific that I used on recent trips.

LAX-HND-ITM round trip. Staff at check in unfriendly and confused. Requested special meals not onboard. LAX-HND and HND-LAX the first meal was a sandwich delivered by hand (without a tray). Selection of beverages was poor seat uncomfortable. The staff friendly but not helpful.